Network assisted pseudolite acquisition for enhanced GPS navigation

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises a set of pseudolites deployed throughout an area of interest in which the GPS constellation visibility may be limited, such as in and around some high-rise buildings in an urban setting, and a database of these installed pseudolite locations with their PRN numbers indexed by cell-site. When the cellular telephone is in communication with a particular tower or transceiver, the PRN numbers of all local pseudolites are transmitted to the cellular telephone. If the cellular telephone has a position solution which has been transmitted to the cell tower, prepositioning information for a code search can be transmitted to the phone as well. The phone can then augment the phone&#39;s normal acquisition list with the pseudolites in the area and track the pseudolites to augment navigation capabilities in a harsh environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/960,828, filed Sep.21, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,597,988 titled “NETWORK ASSISTEDPSEUDOLITE ACQUISITION FOR ENHANCED GPS NAVIGATION,” which is herebyincorporated by reference.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of UnitedStates Provisional Patent Application No. 60/234,856, filed Sep. 22,2000, entitled “NETWORK ASSISTED PSEUDOLITE ACQUISITION FOR ENHANCED GPSNAVIGATION,” by Keith J. Brodie et al., which application isincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to Satellite Positioning System(SATPS) receivers, and in particular to a network assisted pseudoliteacquisition for enhanced SATPS navigation.

2. Description of the Related Art

Cellular telephony, including Personal Communication System (PCS)devices, has become commonplace. The use of such devices to providevoice, data, and other services, such as internet access, has providedmany conveniences to cellular system users.

A current thrust in the cellular and PCS arena is the integration ofGlobal Positioning System (GPS) technology, which is a subset of SATPStechnology, into cellular telephone devices and other wirelesstransceivers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,914, issued to Krasner,which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a method whereinthe basestation (also known as the Mobile Telephone Switching Office(MTSO)) transmits GPS satellite information, including Dopplerinformation, to a remote unit using a cellular data link, and computingpseudoranges to the in-view satellites without receiving or usingsatellite ephemeris information.

This current interest in integrating GPS with cellular telephony stemsfrom a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirement thatcellular telephones be locatable within 20 feet once an emergency call,such as a “911” call (also referred to as Enhanced 911 or “E911”) isplaced by a given cellular telephone. Such position data assists police,paramedics, and other law enforcement and public service personnel, aswell as other agencies that may need or have legal rights to determinethe cellular telephone's position. Further, GPS and/or SATPS data can beused by the cellular user for directions, location of other locationsthat the cellular user is trying to locate, determination of relativelocation of the cellular user to other landmarks, directions for thecellular user via internet maps or other GPS/SATPS mapping techniques,etc. Such data can be of use for other than E911 calls, and would bevery useful for cellular and PCS subscribers.

However, since cellular telephones can travel into areas where SATPSsignals cannot be reliably received, augmentations to the SATPS systemare being researched to support the E911 and other SATPS/cellularapplications. SATPS is increasingly being pressed into service in thecellular telephone/PDA/mobile computer application where a solution isrequired in areas with substantial blockage, such as inside buildings,in subway stations, and other areas where the system RF link budget isunable to sustain communications with mobile units that travel intohostile signal reception environments such a buildings. Pseudolites arewell-known commercially available ground-based transmitters whichaugment the orbiting SATPS constellation with one or more additionaltransmitters to improve the availability and quality of a SATPSsolution. Current pseudolite applications include local-areaaugmentation system (LAAS) transmitters for precision approach.

It can be seen, then, that there is a need in the art for a method andapparatus for assisting the cellular network in locating cellulartelephones. It can also be seen that there is a need in the art for amethod and apparatus for assisting the network in locating cellulartelephones in hostile signal environments such as buildings. It can alsobe seen, then that there is a need in the art for methods andapparatuses for assisting a mobile user in a harsh signal environmentusing extra-network devices such as pseudolites.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To minimize the limitations in the prior art, and to minimize otherlimitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding thepresent specification, the present invention discloses methods andapparatuses for assisting the cellular network, or other type ofnetwork, with SPS acquisition, tracking, and navigation usingextra-network devices such as pseudolites.

The invention comprises a set of pseudolites deployed throughout an areaof interest in which the SATPS constellation visibility may be limited,such as in and around some high-rise buildings in an urban setting, anda database of these installed pseudolite locations with their PRNnumbers indexed by cell-site. When the cellular telephone is incommunication with a particular tower or transceiver, the PRN numbers ofall local pseudolites are transmitted to the cellular telephone. Thedata transmitted for each pseudolite could be simply the pseudolite ID,the ID and position of the pseudolite, or the ID and the complete datamessage for the pseudolite (which would include it's position). Thephone can then augment the phone's normal acquisition list with thepseudolites in the area and track the pseudolites to augment navigationcapabilities in a harsh environment. The advantage of having thepseudolite ID's transmitted to the SATPS receiver for addition to theacquisition list is that they are usually not looked for at all, becausethey are infrequently available. In GPS, for example, pseudorandom codenumbers (PRNs) 1 to 32 are reserved for space vehicles, and PRNs 33through 37 are reserved for pseudolites. Since pseudolites are localarea transmitters, these PRNs may be reused in different geographicareas without interference. A conventional GPS receiver, however, wouldnot search ID's 33 through 37 for potential pseudolites because of theirdeployment is very rare. Searching for transmitters that have not beendeployed wastes power and time in the GPS receiver. The presentinvention extends the conventional SATPS system by providing the list ofavailable pseudolite PRNs to SATPS systems which may benefit fromtracking them because of the obstructed signal environment.

The position of the pseudolite may be transmitted by the cell basestation as well. If the position is transmitted, it can be used by theSATPS to compute, a prepositioning range and range-rate for thepseudolite for faster acquisition of the pseudolite signal.Alternatively, if the cellular telephone has a position solution whichhas been transmitted to the cell tower, prepositioning information for acode search can be transmitted to the phone. If the pseudolite positionand any required dock correction terms are transmitted by the cell basestation to the SATPS receiver, then the pseudolite pseudorange may beused in the SATPS navigation computation before the pseudolite datamessage has been decoded directly from the pseudolite transmission, thusmaking it available for use in assisting navigation sooner. If all ofthe data in the pseudolite data message is transmitted to the SATPS bythe cell base station, the data message in the actual pseudolite signalcan be stripped off of the incoming signal. In the case of a GPSpseudolite, this allows coherent tracking of the pseudolite signalbeyond the 20 millisecond (ms) boundary normally imposed by the datarate in the modulating bi-phase shift keyed (BPSK) code.

In another embodiment of the invention, the pseudolite information istransmitted to the mobile user via a broadcast mechanism, with nocommunication from the mobile user back to the source transmitting thelocal pseudolite information. An FM broadcast station sub-carrier wouldbe well suited to this task, because the limited range of the FMbroadcast availability may be consistent with the range of the signalstransmitted by the pseudolites identified in the FM sub-carrierbroadcast. So, for example, in a city with a local FM station, thesub-carrier broadcasts the ID numbers of the pseudolites available inthe city. As in the case of the cellular network based system, thebroadcast may also include the pseudolite positions, the pseudoliteclock corrections, or the entire pseudolite data message. In any ofthese cases, the SATPS receiver, augmented with the sub-carrierreceiver, picks up the ID's and any other pseudolite information, and istherefore able to acquire, track, and navigate with signals from thelocal pseudolites as well as the satellites. The resultant navigationfixes may be for use locally by the mobile user, or they could betransmitted to through another network, such as the cellular telephonenetwork, to support E911, fleet management, and other applications. Themechanism for transmitting the pseudolite aiding information can beone-way and need not be associated with the transmission of navigationdata from the mobile user.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus for assisting the cellular network in locating cellulartelephones. It is another object of the present invention to provide amethod and apparatus for assisting the network in locating cellulartelephones in hostile signal environments such as buildings. It is afurther object of the present invention to provide methods andapparatuses for assisting the network using extra-network devices suchas pseudolites.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers representcorresponding parts throughout:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the communication links and operation of theinvention for two different users connected to a single cell tower; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a typical scenario using the present invention in adifferent embodiment with the pseudolite data broadcast on an FMsub-carrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following description of the preferred embodiment, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichis shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which theinvention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

Overview

The present invention is embodied in hardware and/or software that isused to perform the computations described above. Different embodimentsof the invention may be used to perform different types of calculations,e.g., a single integrated circuit or piece of software can be used toperform the time ambiguity calculation, a second integrated circuit orpiece of software can be used to perform the z-direction ambiguitycalculation, or a single integrated circuit or piece of software can beused to perform all calculations described by the present invention. Theapparatus is not limiting to the applications of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the communication links and operation of theinvention for two different users connected to a single cell tower.

FIG. 1 illustrates a set of SATPS transmitters 1.a,b,c,d, such as GPSsatellites. The diagram also shows two pseudolites, one mounted on theroof of a building 3, the second mounted inside of a building 5. Thesatellites and pseudolite transmissions are received by users. Two usersare shown, a person with a SATPS-equipped cellular telephone in abuilding 15, and a truck with a SATPS receiver and cellular telephonetransceiver onboard 13.

The users 13, 15 are in communication with a cell phone base stationindicated by the cell tower 7, the base station transceivers(s) andcontroller(s) 11 and a pseudolite database 9. The pseudolite database ismaintained in a computer. It may be maintained locally, as shown, or atsome more centralized location.

In operation, the user's 13,15 cellular telephone equipment identifiesitself as SATPS equipped and capable of tracking pseudolites to the basestation 11 over the communications links 19 a and 19 b. The base stationobtains the list of pseudolites in close range to the tower from thepseudolite database, and transmits to the user equipment the ID codes ofthe pseudolites 3,5 deployed in the area. The transmitted pseudoliteinformation may include 1. the pseudolite ID's only; 2. the ID's andtheir locations; 3. the ID's and the content of their entire datamessage, including location. The SATPS receivers in the user equipment13,15, add the pseudolite ID's to their search lists, so they can searchfor, acquire, and track the local pseudolites. If the locationinformation was transmitted, the pseudolite can be used for navigationbefore the data is decoded. The pseudolite signals provide for improvednavigation, and may be sufficient to compensate for signals lost for theindoor user 15.

Typical Scenario Using the Present Invention

FIG. 2 illustrates a typical scenario using the present invention in adifferent embodiment with the pseudolite data broadcast on an FMsub-carrier. Although a single scenario is illustrated, it is understoodthat other scenarios are possible given the teachings of the presentinvention. The scenario of FIG. 2 is for illustrative purposes only, andis in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the mobile user 208 is a receiving only user, i.e., user 208cannot transmit signals to any other receiver. However, in otherscenarios, user 208 may have transmit capabilities. GPS transmissionsare being received from satellites 206 a,b and from pseudolites 202,210.An FM broadcast sub-carrier is being received from the local FM station200. The GPS transmission from another satellite 204 is being blocked bya building 212, typical of a harsh urban signal environment. The FMsub-carrier transmission has identified the PRN numbers for the localpseudolites 202, 210, so the GPS receiver at the mobile user 208 can addthe pseudolites 202 and 210 to the search list, acquire the pseudolites202 and 210, and track them along with the GPS satellites 206 a and 206b. The process of satellite signal acquisition and tracking is describedin “Understanding GPS Principles and Applications,” by Kaplan, pp119–208 which is herein incorporated by reference.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the inventionhas been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of theinvention not be limited by this detailed description, but by the claimsappended hereto.

1. An enhancement system for a Satellite Positioning System (SATPS),comprising: at least one pseudolite deployed in a geographical region ofinterest; a centrally located database comprising a geographicalposition related to each of the deployed pseudolites; and a transmittercapable of transmitting at least a portion of the centrally locateddatabase comprising the geographical position of the deployedpseudolites to a SATPS receiver for use in determining a position of theSATPS receiver.
 2. The enhancement system of claim 1, wherein thedeployed pseudolites are deployed in a geographical area that has alimited SATPS constellation visibility.
 3. The enhancement system ofclaim 2, wherein the centrally located database is indexed.
 4. Theenhancement system of claim 3, wherein the centrally located database isindexed by cellular telephone system cell site.
 5. The enhancementsystem of claim 4, wherein the SATPS system is a Global PositioningSystem (GPS).
 6. The enhancement system of claim 5, wherein thetransmitter is part of a cellular telephone system.
 7. The enhancementsystem of claim 6, further comprising a transmitter is capable oftransmitting the geographical position of the deployed pseudolites tothe cellular telephone system.
 8. The enhancement system of claim 7,wherein the cellular telephone system is capable of transmittingpropositioning information for a code search from the cellular telephonesystem to the SATPS receiver.
 9. The enhancement system of claim 5,wherein the transmitter is a one-way broadcast mechanism.
 10. Theenhancement system of claim 9, wherein the one-way broadcast mechanismis an FM broadcast station.
 11. An interface to a Satellite PositioningSystem (SATPS) receiver, wherein the interface is capable of inputtinglocal pseudolite information, wherein the local pseudolite informationis selectively used by the SATPS receiver for determining thegeoposition of the SATPS receiver.
 12. The interface of claim 11,wherein the interface is separate from SATPS antenna input used forreceiving SATPS signals.
 13. The interface of claim 11, wherein thelocal pseudolite information comprises a pseudolite PRN number.
 14. Theinterface of claim 13, wherein the local pseudolite informationcomprises a geographical location of the pseudolite.